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“The thing above all else I want you to see is that you can not generate it; you can not work it up; you can not manufacture it. It is imparted and infused by God Himself. You can not sit in your homes and struggle to have faith, and affirm that something is; nor can you turn your hope and desire into faith by your own power. The only place you can get it is from the Lord, for the Word clearly and distinctly states that faith is one of two things. It is either a gift of God, or it is a fruit of the Spirit.” (Charles S. Price, The Real Faith)

Some Christians and non-Christians have falsely taught that faith is belief based on nothing at all. This implies that humans originate or manufacture faith.

Others have falsely taught that faith is based on physical evidence. They contend that true faith comes when we examine physical evidence and draw a conclusion. It seems as if they think that faith is a product of the human intellect.

They’ll take Romans 1:20 out of its context and use it to make their point. This verse does say that the invisible things of God are clearly seen through the things that are made. However, it doesn’t say that faith cometh by examining the physical evidence and reasoning to a conclusion. And they leave out verse 19, which says that what can be known about God is plain to them because God has revealed it to them. God speaks through His creation, but we must learn to discern His voice from all others.

Atheists and Christians both use the same physical evidence. Christians see a creator God. Atheists see naturalism, materialism, and uniformitarianism with no God, and they interpret the physical evidence as confirming their atheistic belief system. God speaks to both Christians and atheists through the physical evidence, that is, through the things that He has created. Atheists refuse to acknowledge Him and glorify Him, but Christians recognize the voice of their Creator God.

They’ll use Acts 1:3, which says that Jesus showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs. However, Acts 1:3 doesn’t say that these proofs were the source or the basis of anyone’s faith. We can be certain that the Father drew those who believed, and their faith came by the utterance of God. Often, God speaks to us through seeing a miracle or hearing someone speaking by the Spirit of God. In this case, they saw the miracle of the resurrected Lord and heard Him as He spoke by the Holy Spirit. No real faith ever originated in the human intellect.

These are the two main ways of defining “faith” incorrectly. The amazing thing is that those who sincerely confess that Jesus Christ is Lord have real faith even if they philosophize about faith in these ways. No one can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. They just don’t realize how they have this faith. For God’s wonderful gifts, we don’t need to understand them fully to partake. However, by teaching about faith incorrectly, they hurt themselves and those who listen to their false definitions.

Real faith has power. Real faith establishes our understanding of reality on a firm foundation. But fake faith is powerless and worthless. When this powerless faith is substituted for real faith, it’s dangerous and destructive.

In a world regulated under a secularist, naturalist mindset, much of the church has slumped toward a kind of fake faith, a make-believe faith. Real faith isn’t pretending. Without the living Christ active in our lives, faith becomes a mental exercise in which we make ourselves believe in various things.

Real faith isn’t a leap into the darkness that lands us in the light. Real faith is not belief without evidence. Real faith isn’t a mental exercise. Real faith is supernatural assurance and knowledge of truth that comes when God speaks to us. Christ leads, teaches, and corrects everyone who will listen to Him and follow Him. Whoever seeks Him finds Him. All may come. He speaks through Scripture and every means of divine revelation He mentions in Scripture.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 King James Version)

If faith comes by hearing the word of Christ or the word of God, then it’s important for us to know what God means by “word of God.” What term was translated as “word?” It’s the Greek term “rhema.” What does “rhema” mean? Rhema means utterance.

The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon defines it as “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word.” It’s “any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning.” It’s “speech, discourse, what one has said, a series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one’s mind made in words), an utterance, a saying of any sort as a message, or a narrative.”

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 King James Version)

Jesus authors our faith. He originates it. We don’t. He’s also the finisher or completer of our faith. Notice how different this is from the make-believe faith that skeptics call “belief without evidence.”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 King James Version)

What Greek term was in the original text that the King James translators rendered as “substance?” The Greek term is “hupostasis.” What does “hupostasis” mean? It means essence. It means reality as opposed to concept.

What about “evidence?” What word is in the original text? The Greek word is “elegchos.” Elegchos is absolute proof.

Therefore, real faith is absolute by nature. It’s absolute proof. It’s substance or reality. The reason it’s absolute and powerful is that Jesus Christ originates it. Faith comes when we hear the voice of God through Scripture. God speaks to us through Scripture. Through Scripture, He tells us about other methods beyond Scripture by which He speaks to us. Faith also comes when He speaks to us through those methods. By faith, we know that the Bible is the utterance of God without error. By faith, we know that God never contradicts Himself. That means that one Scripture never contradicts another Scripture. It also means that no other form of revelation will ever conflict with any part of Scripture. For instance, God will never state one truth through Scripture and contradict that truth by revealing something contradictory in His creation. That is to say, true scientific observation will never conflict with Scripture.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

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Assumptions aren’t a rational basis for interpreting observations and experiences, but schools teach that we can rationally use assumptions as the basis of discussion and reasoning.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

The vast majority of intellectual thought in our politics, newsrooms, scientific journals, schools, seminaries, and universities starts with some assumption, axiom, or worldview. Assumptions, axioms, and worldviews all consist of the same sort of stuff–made-up stuff.

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We can picture a chain with one link replaced by a twist-tie like we use to close a bag of bread. However, it’s an inaccurate picture since the twist-tie represents a single assumption, but twist-ties are infinitely stronger than assumptions. Assumptions have all the strength of hot air, but how do you make a picture of hot air?
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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”
DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

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A chain of thought is like a train. We must rationally link each car. If one car leaves the track of truth, the entire train derails, and irrationality can follow unhindered. Regrettably, the results aren’t usually good, although God sometimes shows mercy during the train wreck. The human mind can imagine anything, but the train of logic left the track of truth the moment the first assumption began. If the train of logic stays on the track of truth, the reasoning is sound.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

Why don’t the universities, newsrooms, courts, and fact-checkers care about reality anymore? Why don’t they care about truth? It’s because they don’t want to submit to the One Who is Truth, Jesus Christ. They love darkness rather than light. God has revealed the fact that truth is only available in Jesus Christ, but they don’t want His righteousness. They want to do their own thing.

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Reality is absolute by nature because reality is truth, and truth excludes all that isn’t real.
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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”
DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

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As of this writing, we’re seeing sweeping changes in the world. We’re seeing darkness as never before, and it’s going to get much worse. We’re seeing widespread insanity on a level never before experienced. God always gave some light to unbelievers. They didn’t comprehend it, but they benefitted from it. They assumed that they were just very good at guessing what would work and what wouldn’t work. They were able to reason, but not to any certainty of truth. Even so, they were able to come to conclusions that worked in the real world. They even had a fairly accurate idea of what was right and what was wrong because God shined His light on them and they could see somewhat without thanking God or giving Him the Glory.

However, that’s changing. Emotion is replacing logic. Bare assertions are the norm without any attempt to give the illusion of rational thought. Shouting and chanting have replaced dialog. Right is being called “wrong,” and wrong is being called “right.” And that’s among the intellectuals and elites of society.

So what’s different now that’s causing these changes? When a person turns away from God, that person can go into a terrible darkness. At a certain point, God removes His hand from that person, and His face no longer shines on that person. That’s one individual. How much worse when a culture splits, and a major part of the culture turns it’s back on God! And how dreadful when it happens across the entire world!

Currently, two things are happening.

First, many Christians aren’t following Christ and shining with His brightness. They don’t listen to His voice or yield to His Spirit. They follow ungodly councilors instead. They either disregard the Bible entirely or they try to shoehorn rationalized ideas into the Bible. They have a religion, but it’s about self-righteousness, popularity, prestige, entertainment, money, and political power. It doesn’t effectively touch the power of God for righteousness and holiness. They have ceased to be effective as salt and light.

Second, many Christians are following Christ and beginning to walk in the righteousness of Christ. They’re beginning to shine with the Light of Christ. Then, those who hate the Light turn away from the Light. They throw themselves into greater darkness. God is letting them go and isn’t restraining them.

In Scripture, God foreshadowed this day in the plagues of the Egyptians. One of the plagues was a darkness that could be felt among the Egyptians. At the same time, there was light in the homes of the Israelites. The prophet Joel also spoke of a day that would be darkness but also a day of dawning.

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Real Faith & Reason Journey Volume One

direct link – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

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We recognize that knowledge differs from an opinion, and that truth differs from a viewpoint. Opinions are easy. For opinions, we need only make up stuff and believe it. Then, we pretend that the made-up stuff is reasonable so we can convince ourselves that we’re right. For opinions, we still have a reason to believe, but we don’t need to base our reasoning on anything real. Opinions are mere suppositions in our minds or the minds of others since opinions just give the illusion of sanity.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

<quote>

Jorge Luis Borges wrote a short story titled “The Library of Babel” in which people had access to every book ever written. While most of the books were pure made-up stuff with no truth, many other books contained truth. So the trouble wasn’t the lack of truth. The trouble was that no one could find the truth in the vast quantities of gibberish since they had no way to separate truth from fabrication. With a Babylon of voices that all claim to be right, we live in a world of babble as we try to find the truth in a sea of lies and deceptions.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf

<quote>

In 2nd Timothy, chapter 3, God tells us about a time when people will be “always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” If they’re learning but not coming to the knowledge of the truth, what are they learning? God calls it learning, but learners can learn lies and evil. Teachers can teach lies and evil. Thinkers can think irrationally.

Here’s the context of God’s statement about learning without coming to the knowledge of the truth.

In the last days, terrible times will come.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

They’ll have a form of godliness but deny its power.

People will be boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, traitorous, reckless, and conceited.

These people will teach things that aren’t true. That’s happening. God says, “Turn away from such as these!” Teachers are teaching students that each person has his or her own truth, that each one has his or her own reality. They teach a system of reasoning and logic that can’t possibly lead to knowledge of the truth. They teach lie upon lie. False teaching isn’t only in the schools, but every form of media echoes the message as if the schools, media, publishers, museums, entertainers, amusement parks, and every other form of communication are controlled and directed to act as the great false prophet of the Apocalypse.

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Scientia, “Real Faith & Reason Journey”

DIRECT LINK TO FREE BOOK – http://RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_1_-_Scientia.pdf